In federal practice, prosecutors are trained never to lose at the starting line.
An indictment is not a conviction. It is not even a trial. It is a formal accusation backed by probable cause — a standard intentionally set low so that contested facts can be tested before a jury. When a federal grand jury refuses to return an indictment, it is not simply declining to proceed. It is signaling doubt at the most preliminary stage.That is why recent grand jury refusals involving the office led by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro are so consequential.
This is not about a single case. It is about a pattern. And patterns, in federal law enforcement, are rarely accidental.
